


guide you home

by escherzo



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Babies, F/F, F/M, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Sappy, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, i gave azu two partners and also several babies because i can
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:41:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29325648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/escherzo/pseuds/escherzo
Summary: Thank you, she mouths to Aphrodite with her family surrounding her. As her children curl up peacefully in slumber, all three in a row, with their tiny orc noses and big halfling eyes, as Hamid and Kiko stay close, their hands tucked in hers.
Relationships: Azu/Kiko (Rusty Quill Gaming), Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan/Azu
Comments: 12
Kudos: 31
Collections: The Heart of Aphrodite





	guide you home

**Author's Note:**

> look it's a hard week and that means I gotta give people babies again (also please imagine the baby bandolier looks something like the following art: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EhSCbOjXYAEtp7w?format=png&name=small) 
> 
> this is just nonsense fluff written in like an hour please do not think too hard on it

“So you just adjust it like _so_ , and--” Cel fastens the last strap around Azu's front and steps back, hands on their hips, their eyes gleaming with the delight of a job well done. “Does it fit?”

“I think so,” Azu says, looking down at the bandolier strapped across her chest. It's made of carefully worked leather, with three pouches in front to keep what it's meant to hold safe and close. “Are you... sure they will fit?” 

The triplets-- _triplets?!_ , Hamid said, when he first found out, caught between delight and a mild dread, because of course he had to accidentally do one better than his own parents—are asleep, one cradled in each of Kiko's strong arms and the other held gently in Hamid's, her fist curled in the fabric of his cloak. Their eyes are open now, but still not quite focusing on the world, and they are the smallest orc babies Azu has ever seen. It still fills her with a fierce, protective pride and wonder to see them. To watch as they slowly grow, their tiny little arms reaching out for the world, these little miracles that somehow she has created. 

“We'll be careful,” Hamid promises as he brings the youngest--Saira--over and gently slips her into the pouch, keeping her head cradled as he does. Orc babies can hold their heads up when they are only a few weeks old, but halflings, Hamid explained, take much longer than that. He'd told her about when his brothers were born, one night, curled up against her chest, with Kiko's arms wrapped around her belly from behind, and all around them and above them was a blanket of crystal-clear stars. She'd been so heavy with carrying the triplets then, and he'd been so careful to tuck in close to her without putting his weight on her belly.

“They might be very, very small?” Hamid said, resting his forehead against hers and drawing the mess of blankets around them closer to ward off the cold. “You could have held Ishak in the palm of your hand.” 

“I hope they are not that small,” Azu whispered, glancing down at her belly. Keeping her voice quiet as though they could hear her. “I don't want to be afraid of hurting them.”

They didn't fit in the palm of her hand, but they are still so fragile. She holds them like the thinnest porcelain, caught between awe and terror. 

Saira stirs briefly, her mouth opening and closing like she's not quite sure if she wants to yawn, but as soon as she's tucked into the little pocket of the bandolier where it's safe and warm she settles back down to sleep, her little hands curled into fists and resting against her face. Azu slowly strokes the wispy-soft hair on the top of her head and smiles. “Kiko?” she asks. 

“I'm here,” Kiko says, and as she steps closer she tilts her head up for a kiss. Azu obliges, of course, unable to refuse her anything as always, and Kiko's smile is soft and easy for her. She turns enough that Azu can cradle her son in her arms and then tuck him in beside his sister, and then take her other daughter and press her close to her chest as well. They are all safe and swaddled here, against her chest, and she looks down at them with a heart that could burst with love. 

_Thank you_ , she mouths to Aphrodite with her family surrounding her. As her children curl up peacefully in slumber, all three in a row, with their tiny orc noses and big halfling eyes, as Hamid and Kiko stay close, their hands tucked in hers. Everyone else—just as much family as the ones she shares a bed with—is here too, today. Cel stands back, surveying their handiwork with an approving nod, their hands absently gathering up the tools they've been using to adjust the bandolier to be a tight enough fit. Zolf is a little ways away, taking a moment to look out over the mountains with Wilde, their hands brushing as the wind ruffles their hair and brings with it the soft, crisp smell of a burgeoning spring, and somewhere a bit further down the hill she can hear the distant chaos of Emeka and Ishak meeting Carter and Barnes and the kobolds for the first time. She is home. Well and truly home, for the first time in so long she has nearly forgotten what home and safety feel like. 

“Well?” Cel asks, expectant, and Azu takes a tentative step forward, Hamid and Kiko's other hands underneath the bandolier to support it, just in case, but as she moves it holds true. There is very little give to it; she will not have to worry about it swaying and waking them. 

“It's perfect,” she says, and takes a long, deep breath, her lungs full of the crisp mountain air. She has been praying for peace, and healing, and there are scars on all of them that may never properly fade, but she gets to have this, too, this little pocket of peace in a world that is still learning how to rebuild itself. 

“I know you would be here too, if you could,” Azu whispers with a quick look to the sky, imagining the endless hunt in the world beyond, two figures darting in and out of trees with grins and daggers sharp and fierce as they stalk for prey side by side. On the wind, she can hear the distant call of a hunting bird, and she smiles and swallows past the lump in her throat.

“Let's go say hello to your brother,” Hamid says, squeezing her hand, and her smile comes easier at that.


End file.
